To be reminded
by Wassermagierin
Summary: A conversation between Kakashi and Sasuke that might've taken place during the wave arc: '"Are you afraid of me Sasuke?" And he couldn't help but feel that the question was meant for another Uchiha. Too different to be reminded, yet too silimar to forget.


Kakashi had hoped to never have to reveal his Sharingan to his students

Okay, the idea for this Oneshot came to me while I was in France with a youth organisation. I didn't know anybody there and I'm the type who gets sunburnt easily (and doesn't seem to tan at all.), so I sometimes spent my time in the tent I shared with three other girls and thought about anything and everything. Pretty boring, huh? That's why I thought of possibilities for Oneshots.

I'm pretty proud of the idea behind this…I'm not so proud on how it turned out. The most important part is at the end, but I thought that I had to explain the situation behind it. I'd be happy if someone could give me a few tips on how to make the beginning a bit shorter.

Still, I hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: It's simply not possible that I own Naruto, because I suck at drawing. It's as simple as that.

--

Kakashi had hoped to never have to reveal his Sharingan to his students. To Sakura and Naruto it would only seem to be a very powerful weapon, but Sasuke knew the truth about the dangerous kekkei genkai.

Kakashi should have known that the one time they were assigned a C-rank mission, luck would not be on their side.

Kakashi was not at all surprised to feel Sasuke's chakra flare at Zabuza's mention of the Sharingan; after all, according to the records, his last encounter with it had landed him in a two-day comatose like state which the medic-nins speculated might have been caused by an unnaturally strong genjutsu. Sasuke himself had not given any more information about what had happened, not during all the interrogations he had been forced to endure, and not even the ones carried out by ANBU. Whatever it had been, it had been bad enough to make him unable to talk about it.

Of course, even the ANBU had not used violence to force the answer out of him. He was still a kid, after all.

After Zabuza and Kakashi's fight had ended, Kakashi had passed out (pass out, because expressions like 'faint' or 'fall unconscious' left a bitter taste on his tongue), making him unaware of the following happenings. He figured that Sasuke and Naruto had dragged him to Tazuna's home, though, because when he woke up he was staring at a grey ceiling and was covered by a thick blanket.

'I used my Sharingan too much…I'm out of shape'

A dark blue haired woman entered the room. As she noticed that he was awake, she asked, "Are you all right, sensei?"

Kakashi guessed that she was Tazuna's daughter.

"No, I'll barely be able to move for a week…"

He hoped that his students didn't know about the consequences of severe chakra exhaustion. Had he used his Sharingan only for a few more minutes he wouldn't be having a conversation with this woman, but Rin and Obito…

The truth was that he _should_ be glad he had only been unconscious for such a short while. But it _shouldn't_ be the truth, he _should_ be able to _stand up_, _should_ be able to see his _students_, _should_ be able to continue as if _nothing had happened_. Things like that had _never_ happened to him while he had been in ANBU…

'Stop that. I left that organisation for the right reasons. If I had stayed I would definitely be dead by now, if not physically, then mentally'

His students were spread over the room, Sakura being the one nearest to him. She also was the one who started telling him off for using his Sharingan too long even though he knew about the consequences.

During their following conversation, Kakashi observed each of his students. All of them were listening intently and quietly. Kakashi guessed Naruto had been warned to stay quiet before they entered his room. He was managing it, even though he had a confused look on his face while listening to Kakashi's words.

Sakura was taking in the information and storing it away for future use. She was, after all, the one with the most book smarts on their team.

Sasuke however…even though he was listening, he was unnaturally tense. Shortly after that Kakashi noticed that he was the one sitting the farthest away from where Kakashi was lying.

'Well, what did you expect? You knew what his reaction to the Sharingan would be like, you can't expect him to just ignore the fact that the kekkei genkai should only appear in people belonging to the Uchiha clan, which you are clearly not' a voice in his head told him.

He forced those thoughts away, however. The ANBU part of his brain had started to analyse his fight. He had a bad feeling about it…

"What's wrong sensei?" Naruto asked. He never was one to like silences.

"He, well…Hunter-nins usually dispose of the person they killed right on the spot…"

"So what?" Sakura asked.

"Don't you see? How did that masked boy dispose of Zabuza's body?"

Sakura shrugged. "How could we know?" she said stubbornly, "That masked guy took the body with him."

"Yeah." Kakashi agreed. "If he needed proof of his work, he could have just taken the head. And the weapon that he used to kill Zabuza."

"Simple senbon…" Sasuke muttered. Then his eyes widened, his usual expressionless mask being replaced by a look of shock.

"No way…"

Kakashi scratched his head. 'At least his mind's just as sharp as ever' "Yeah, exactly."

The others were still confused.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna voiced their thoughts. Kakashi sighed.

"Most likely…Zabuza is still alive."

--

Kakashi was glad when their conversation was finally over. If he was going to train them, he would still need a lot of sleep. Tsunami had said that she would tell one of his students to take Kakashi's dinner to his room after they were finished.

He woke up to the sounds of people chatting and chopsticks hitting bowls. He stayed awake while listening to bowls being dropped into the sink, as well as the sound of two people running outside.

"Naruto, wait up! We will be taking a look at the surroundings Tsunami-san. Dinner was delicious!" He could hear Sakura calling from outside.

Moments afterwards, he could hear light footsteps on the stairs.

'Mmh, the footsteps are too light for Tsunami and Tazuna, and too quiet for Inari. Sakura and Naruto are definitely outside, that leaves…ah, speak of the devil.'

The door was opened by Sasuke. He was balancing a tray with food on it with one hand.

"Ah, Sasuke" Kakashi greeted, his visible eye turned into and upside-down U. The young ninja did not respond, simply placing the tray next to where Kakashi was sitting. There was no doubt about his tenseness now, even though most others wouldn't have noticed. He stood up to leave again, when Kakashi stopped him.

"Stay."

It was said cheerfully, but that didn't make it any less of an order. Sasuke sat down reluctantly, not looking at his sensei.

"Is there something one your mind I should know about, Sasuke?" Kakashi figured that if he continued using that exaggeratedly cheerful voice he might get on Sasuke's nerves enough to let him slip something.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Kakashi had expected him to be stubborn. But Kakashi was more persistent than that.

"Mmh, if you're sure…Lovely weather isn't it?"

"What do you want, sensei?"

Sasuke's head was facing the floor and his shoulders tensed a little more obviously. At that moment Kakashi also realized that the way in which Sasuke was crouching on the floor was very useful for getting away quickly.

Or dodging attacks.

Kakashi's expression turned grim. So that's what it was about.

"Sasuke, look at me," he said firmly. Sasuke obeyed, only to be faced with one dark grey and one red eye staring into his own deep black ones. Kakashi could _see_ how Sasuke was forcing himself to keep his breathing steady.

"You should cover that, sensei. You could have died of chakra exhaustion," came the forced cool answer.

Kakashi should have expected him to know about that. If he was able to use fire jutsu, he had to know about chakra exhaustion.

"Don't try to change the subject, Sasuke."

"I was not aware that we had one to begin with, _sensei_." Sometimes Kakashi cursed Sasuke's sharp tongue. Sasuke looked away again. Kakashi sighed again. Why did that kid have to be so difficult? Not that _he_ had been any better when he had been younger…

Kakashi slowly lifted one hand, still feeling the fatigue affecting his movements, and moved to put it on Sasuke's shoulder. He stopped a few inches before he actually touched the boy as his tension became too obvious for Kakashi to ignore and Sasuke's fingers twitched as if wanting nothing more than to slap his hand away.

Kakashi scrutinized his face with his Sharingan. His eyes seemed torn between narrowing and widening. Narrowing in suspicion and widening in…fear? Kakashi slowly lowered his hand. He had confirmed his suspicions.

"Are you afraid of me Sasuke?" Neither was sure whether it was a question or a statement.

"Do I…does this Sharingan remind you of your brother's eyes? Of your clan?"

Only silence answered his question, even though Sasuke tightened his hands into fists, clinging to the material of his shorts.

Once more Kakashi sighed and laid down again. He would never admit it, but the silence hurt him, because Sasuke and Obito were so _different_, and yet so _alike_, and he couldn't help but imagine _Obito_ being afraid from him, shrinking away from him, even if that was something that _Obito_, not Sasuke would have done…

"Tch."

Kakashi looked at Sasuke.

"Of course I'm not afraid."

"Your Sharingan's different."

Kakashi frowned inwardly. Different? All the Sharingans he had seen (even though the number wasn't all that high) had all looked rather identical.

"Besides," Sasuke added, turning to meet the Sharingan's gaze head-on, "you're too different from any of them to be unpleasantly reminded." He was smirking slightly

_That_ Kakashi understood.

_Not as grim, as conceited, as arrogant. Not as uncaring about others. Cheerful, unpunctual, and…acknowledging._

_Not as naïve, as friendly, as emotional. Considered a genius by everyone but himself. A wall of ice around him, built to hide, and to protect. _

And yet…Kakashi pulled his hitai-ate back down.

_The same examining and calculating gaze, the same need to push themselves to their limits. The same control over their emotions._

_The same blood running through their veins, similar looks, the same stubbornness, the same fire burning behind their eyes. The wish to prove themselves, wanting to be acknowledged. The same urge to protect, even if it's only the honour, the memory of the dead…_

"But I guess…"

Kakashi opened his visible eye. He couldn't remember closing it.

Sasuke seemed to wish that he hadn't said anything. He took a calm breath and closed his eyes for a second before meeting Kakashi's stormy grey one again, searching for something.

"I guess…there are just enough similarities not to forget."

Kakashi smiled.

--

A few explanations:

I speculated a bit with Sasuke being interrogated by ANBU, but, come on, firstly, only four people knew about what was revealed in recent manga chapters, and Itachi was ANBU as well. If one of their members slaughtered his whole clan, wouldn't you interrogate him? And I imagine that being forced to relive his clan's death for 24 hours or whatever would make Sasuke unable to talk about it without being reminded of their deaths, thus the unresponsive state.

Next, Kakashi's thoughts about what he should be able to do and ANBU…Well, that was one of my tries to express how Kakashi might feel like. I mean, we all know that he has a very complicated (messed/fed up) mind/personality etc. (Sorry, I usually don't swear very much, but it still fits…)

Kakashi's thoughts about Obito and Sasuke: Personally I think that there are lots of similarities between those two. It becomes even more obvious when Sasuke protects Naruto from Haku's needles. Compare it with how Obito shoved Kakashi out of the way of those rocks and tell me that they're not similar.

Kakashi doesn't understand what Sasuke means with 'different Sharingan either'. Sasuke, of course, is referring to the Mangekyou. Personally, I'd also give it a deeper meaning, but I can't put that into words, so I'll leave it at that. A tip: It would be including the personality of the other Uchihas.

Well, I suppose it could have been worse…After all, there's only one story that I have never read since I wrote it because I think that I would instantly delete it. 'The power of words'. One tip, don't ever write a story when you're angry or sad and instantly submit it without looking it over when you, or the situation around you, have/has calmed down.

I hope that at least some of you enjoyed this.

Please review!


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